p6 News feb20 18/2/09 17:27 Page 6
news aviation round-up
ttglive.com
Qantas to fly A380 daily
SIA cuts avoid
from Heathrow by 2010
A380 routes
SINGAPORE Airlines is safeguarding its London
A380 routes from capacity cuts of up to 11%
across its network.
Chris Gray.
pore Airlines in March and Emirates in Decem- UK and Ireland general manager Joey Seow
QANTAS plans to operate a daily A380 service ber. It is competition for both on the London- said the two daily Heathrow-Singapore A380
from Heathrow by the end of 2009, once it has Sydney route. services would not be affected by the cuts, which
taken delivery of four more of the superjumbos. It is the only one of the three to have a premium would involve temporarily taking 17 of its 102
The carrier’s third A380 entered service on the economy cabin, which it hopes will be a selling aircraft out of service.
Heathrow-Singapore-Sydney Kangaroo route on point to match Singapore Airlines’ 86 cm-wide However, he said the third daily Heathrow-Sin-
January 17, and its fourth will start flying on June business-class seats, and the showers Emirates gapore service would be changed from a 375-
8 after it is delivered in May. has in first class. seat Boeing 747 to a 275-seat 777-300ER to cut
It will add Monday and Friday A380 lunchtime “It’s not about gimmicks. It’s about the total capacity on the route to reflect slowing demand.
flights departures to the existing Wednesday, flight experience. The premium economy is a Seow was speaking as Singapore Airlines
Saturday and Sunday flights. new benchmark that none of the competitors marked its one millionth A380 passenger since
Stephen Thompson, Qantas UK and Europe have,” Thompson said. it started operating the superjumbos last year.
general manager, said the service would be daily He added that passengers could turn first and The passenger, Roy Pollard, travelling with his
by the end of 2009, when the airline should have business-class seats into flat-beds without stand- wife Eileen, was identified at check-in at
received four more A380s from Airbus. ing by using their seat controls, unlike Singapore Heathrow and they were upgraded to business
He said all the deliveries were on schedule and Airlines where they had to get out of their seat. class. The couple (pictured below) were also
sales of the existing A380 service had demon- Qantas is stopping operating a domestic New given a free stay at Raffles in Singapore.
strated there was demand, with load factors Zealand service from June 10. The routes will be Singapore Airlines made the capacity cuts
above 90%. taken over by no-frills sister company Jetstar. after reporting a 43% fall in profits to $224
Qantas is the third carrier to start operating million for the final three months of 2008.
A380 services from Heathrow, following Singa- ■ Guide to A380 Oz options, p24
■ Full Joey Seow interview in next week’s TTG
Virgin ‘only brand’
for world ticket
Two hundred agents and operators saw a preview of the A380 cabins and amenities at the IMAX cinema in London last week VIRGIN Atlantic is to promote itself as the only
airline group capable of offering a round-the-
world ticket under one brand when it launches
Swot up on new
Agents needed to be aware of areas such as V Australia next week.
the Bungle Bungles in the north-west and to be V Australia will fly between Australia and the
areas of Australia
familiar with the domestic air network, so they US, starting with an inaugural Sydney-LAservice
could offer customers something new. on February 27. It will use new 360-seat Boeing
He added that Qantas had simplified its fare 777-300ER aircraft and also offer Melbourne-LA
QANTAS is offering agents training in less well structure to make selling the airline easier. and Brisbane-LA services.
known parts of Australia. “The trade is critical to us,” he said. Virgin customers will initially have to book the
Stephen Thompson, UK and Europe general different airlines separately but will be able to
manager, said consumers were demanding more ■ For photos from Qantas’ VIP agents and do it on one ticket within a year, although it
than the traditional, “rock, reef, city” tours. operators night at the IMAX, see
ttgluxury.com would be longer for agents.
06 20.02.2009
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